Critical Lens- Environmental Racism
In “The Narrative on Frederick Douglass,” Frederick Douglass, a former slave and prominent abolitionist, talks about how he was brought up and was born in rough times in 1817. Douglass talks about how other slaves like him were never really taught how to read or write, which is a form of oppression. This is a form of oppression because you are being denied the access to knowledge. Everyone should have the right to knowledge because it betters the person himself or herself, it opens their mind, and if they aren’t taught anything, then you are oppressing them and not letting them be free to see things in the world. Yet we see similar problems that arise in our day and age. We see the whole idea of oppression today.
As a slave, Douglass was taught from time to time by his slave owner, and gradually things in his life changed. Douglass talks about how his people were used for free labor and faced tough times. The worst part was when the government tried to do something, many Americans were still racist and problems still occurred,
We see forms of this same oppression today. In the past, denying access to knowledge affected many African Americans. In the U.S., the power holders in this age were the racist Americans but for the topic of air pollution, my fire project, is that the government still turns its head to the issue. This issue is a cultural issue because the problem is affecting the African Americans in the past, but now the government denies policies to protect the Hispanic and lower-income communities, which have fallen victim to power plant toxic chemicals.
The work of Frederick Douglass we still see today with activist that stand up against the environmental racism we face today and many more communitites begin to rise up against the injustices of power plants. Education is important if your trying to create change because you must have some basic knowledge of what your going up against.
As a slave, Douglass was taught from time to time by his slave owner, and gradually things in his life changed. Douglass talks about how his people were used for free labor and faced tough times. The worst part was when the government tried to do something, many Americans were still racist and problems still occurred,
We see forms of this same oppression today. In the past, denying access to knowledge affected many African Americans. In the U.S., the power holders in this age were the racist Americans but for the topic of air pollution, my fire project, is that the government still turns its head to the issue. This issue is a cultural issue because the problem is affecting the African Americans in the past, but now the government denies policies to protect the Hispanic and lower-income communities, which have fallen victim to power plant toxic chemicals.
The work of Frederick Douglass we still see today with activist that stand up against the environmental racism we face today and many more communitites begin to rise up against the injustices of power plants. Education is important if your trying to create change because you must have some basic knowledge of what your going up against.